Dental tool.



No. 799,724. 1 PATBNTED SEPT. 19, 1995.

A. W. PELTMANN.-

DENTAL TOOL. A APPLIoATroN FILED 1190.21, 1994.

7455572195565, Zvze 721607. @2M TM 5 UNITED STATES IPATENT oFFIoE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 19, 1905.

Application led December 2'7, 1904. Serial No. 238.313.

To if/ZZ whowt it Iii/Ly concern.- n

Be it known that I, ADAM VVILLIAn FELT- MANN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented new and useful Improvements in Dental Tools, of which the following is a specification, reference vbeing had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part thereof.

This invention relates to devices particularly adapted for dentists use, but not limited to such use, for releasably holding small articles which are to be ground, dressed, or polished, its specific features being contrived with reference to the function of holding artiiicial porcelain teeth in the process of dressing the same.

It consists of the features of construction set out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevation of such hand-vise. Fig. 2 is an axial section on a larger scale than Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a transverse section at the line 3 3 on Fig. l on a magnified scale.

This tool comprises an outer barrel or sleeve 1, within which is the longitudinallyreciprocating plunger 2, which protrudes at the upper or rear end from the barrel or sleeve and at the opposite end has made. fast to it the spring-gripper 3, comprising upper and lower jaws 3n and 3b, respectively, constructed so that normally they stand spread to a distance greater than the diameter of the barrel l, as seen in Fig.. 2, but having sulicient elasticity to be closed together for gripping as they are drawn into the barrel. The plunger 2 is reduced in diameter to accommodate a spring 4, which is coiled about the plunger within the barrel or sleeve, being` stopped at the forward or` lower portion eX- tending to the end having the gripping-jaws, such reduction forming a forwardly or downwardly facing shoulder 2u at one end against said shoulder 28L and at the other end against stop screws or studs 5 5, which are inserted through the sleeve from the outside for that purpose, as seen in Fig. 2. This spring thus reacts between the fixed stops 5 of the sleeve and the shoulder 2a on the plunger for yieldingly resisting the protrusion of the springgripper 3 and elastically reacting to withd raw said gripper into the sleeve with a tendency to close up the jaws upon Whatever article may be lodged between them for the purpose of being' gripped by them. The plunger 2 is axially bored and is also counterbored throughout the greater portion of its length, the portionnot counterbored being threaded interiorly, whereby the plunger is adapted to admit through it the threaded shaft 6, which is screwed through the threaded portion of the plunger and carries on the end which protrudes within the spring-gripper 3 a headblock 7, preferably swiveled on the end of said shaft 6, and adapted for backing up or stopping at the back or inner end the toothblank or other piece of work which may be grasped between the springjaws. For the further specic purpose of steadying or rendering fixed in position the inner end of such piece of work when this is desirable by reason of the shape of the work and the position of the face which is to be dressed the head-block 7 has a conical recess 7 a, which is adapted to receive and to center in a conicallytapering piece of work, and for the;purpose of similarly engaging and thereby steadying a piece which may have a wedge taper, but not a conical taper, which would permit it to enter the conical socket 7a, the head-block has a V-shaped notch 7b cut diametrically across its forward face or end to less depth, preferably, than the conical socket, but sufviicient to aiford lodgment for a wedge-shapedy edge of a tooth-blank, as seen in Fig. l.

It will be seen that the operator holding this tool between two fingers of the hand canl operate the plunger by means of the thumb pressed against the upper or rear end or against the corresponding end of the stem 6, which being screwed through the plunger is positively engaged with it for endwise movement, and that such pressure of the thumb upon the upper or rear end of the plunger advancing the spring-jaws permits them to spread, to release any piece of work which may be held in them, and that when thus held the operator may adjust to the jaws and the head-block any piece of work which is to be held in the device, and upon releasing the pressure upon the plunger the spring 4, operating to retract theplunger into the sleeve or barrel 1, causes the barrels to be closed together for gripping the work more or less rmly, according to the tension of the spring.

For holding the work with suiiicient firmness to permit it to be dressed or ground it is necessary to provide some more positive means than the spring 4:, and for this purpose the plunger is reduced in diameter at its rear upper portion from the upwardly or rearwardly facing shoulder 2b and has on this re- IOO IIO

duced portion an exteriorly-threaded sleeve 8, which is stopped longitudinally between the shoulder 2" and the retaining-collar 9, secured to the upper or rear end of the plunger, the sleeve being free to rotate easily on the plunger between the stops which retain it. For engaging the exterior thread of this sleeve 8 a segmental nut or piece of a nut 10 is provided, the same -being set through the outer sleeve or barrel 1, which is apertured to accommodate it or seat it. This segmental or fractional nut 10 may be. retained in its seat or aperture in the barrel 1 by means of springtingers 11. which clasp the barrel lightly, so that while holding the nut normally engaged withthe thread of the sleeve they permit disengagement in the manner contemplated by the ratchet formation Vof the thread. This fractional nut, however, is more forcibly held in engagement at its threaded interior side and with the exterior thread of the sleeve 8 by means of a spring 12, which is made fast in any convenient manner, as by soldering, to the outer surface of the barrel 1, and which has a free end 12 engaged with the boss 10 of the nut. The thread of the sleeve 8 and nut 10 is ratchetLform'ed, having an abrupt face to the rear 'or upper end and a long slope to the lower or downward end of the implement, and the spring 12 normally bears upon the nut with moderate force only, not suffe cient to prevent the sleeve being pushed longitudinally downward or forward for protruding the spring-jaws to release the article held therein or to spread them for receiving a piece of work, the ratchet-thread of the sleeve in such action slipping by the ratchetthread of the nut in a manner which will be obvious. It will be observed also that when th'e plunger is thus thrust down or forward to protrude the jaws and permit them 'to spread the fractional nut operates as adetaining-dog engaging the ratchet-thread and prevents the spring 4 from retracting the plunger to close the jaws, so that the operator may readily adjust any piece of work in the jaws, which may then be retracted by rotating the threaded sleeve 8 until the work is properly gripped; but it will be seen that the graspwhich can be thus obtained upon the work in the jaws will be limited by the pressure which the spring 12 exerts upon the fractional nut 10, and in order that this pressure may be made adequate to hold the work firmly the spring is constructed, as shown clearly in Figs. 1 and 2, with a refolded portion 12b, which extends under or within the outer terminal portion 12", and where the two portions 12D`and 12 lap one within the other a Islide bloc-'li or clamp 13 encompasses both of them,and by sliding thisclamp one w-ayor the other along the lapped portions the length of the free end of the spring which is unrestrained in its elastic reaction upon the nut may be varied, and the pressure which will thus be exerted to hold the nut in engagement with the sleeevc may be increased by moving the slide 13 toward the rear or upper end for shortening such free portion of the spring' or in the opposite direction for lengthening it.

In order that the slide may be retained without danger of slipping away from the position at which the free portion of the spring is shorter, one of the lapped portions of the spring is at that point curved away from the other, so that the slide compresses them together in order to encompass them at this point, as seen at Fig. 2, and is thereby frictionallyhel'd at that position, or if moved a little beyond it is more certainly prevented from slipping back. In order that the rotation of the threaded sleeve 8 shall effectually operate to retract or protrude the plunger, the latter is prevented from rotating in the barrel 1 by means of gudgeon-screws 14 14, which are set into the plunger through the barrel from opposite sides where the barrel has slots 15 15 provided for that purpose long enough to accommodate the entire longitudinal movement which it is at any time necessary to give the plunger.

For the specific purpose of holding the artificial-teeth blanks for dressing them the particular form of jaws shown in the drawings is desirable, the lower jaw being' protruded beyond the upper and the upper being recurved inward toward the lower, so that while the lower jaw forms a seat or rest for the blank 16 the upper jaw may engage it at either side of the rivets 16E.

I claim- 1. In atool for the purpose indicated,in combination with the exterior element or barrel, a plunger reciprocating in the barrel and having gripping-jaws which are operated by such reciprocation, and a ratchet-threaded connec tion between the plunger and the barrel, one of whose elements is elastically yielding with respect to the other for disengagement of the threaded connection.

2. In a tool for the purpose indicated, in combination with the exterior element or barrel, a plunger reciprocatingin the barrel and having gripping jaws protruding therefrom which -are operated by such reciprocation; a spring reacting between the plunger and the barrel for yieldingly resisting the longitudinal movement of the plunger in one direction, and two elements constituting a threaded con nection between the plunger and the barrel, one of said elements being rotatable for longitudinally moving the plunger, and one of them also being movable for disengagement of the threaded connection to permit such longitudinal movement independently of the threaded connection.

3. In atool for the purpose indicated,in combination with the exterior element or barrel, a plunger reciprocating in the barrel having gripping-jaws protruding therefrom which IOO .lIO

IIS

are operated by such reciprocation; a spring reacting between the plunger and the barrel for yieldingly resisting the longitudinal movement of the plunger in one direction and reciprocating it in the opposite direction, and a ratchet threaded connection between the plunger and the barrel, one of whose elements is elastically yielding with respect to the other for disengagement of the coperating' parts at such threaded connection.

4. In a tool for the purpose indicated, in combination with an exterior element or barrel, aplunger extending longitudinally within the barrel having at one end gripping-jaws which protrude from the barrel which are operated by the reciprocation of the plunger, and a shaft which extends axially through the plunger having threaded engagement therewith, such shaft terminating between the jaws back of their gripping-terminals.

5. In a tool for the purpose indicated,in combination with the exterior element or barrel, a plunger extending longitudinally within the barrel having at one end gripping-jaws protruding from the barrel and operated by the reciprocation of the plunger; a spring reacting between the barrel and the plunger for giving the latter longitudinal movement in the direction for closing the jaws, and a shaft screwed through the plunger having a head which protrudes between the jaws back of their gripping-terminals, such head having a conical socket for seating the work which may be gripped by the jaws.

6. In a tool for the purpose indicated,in combination with the exterior element or barrel, a plunger extending longitudinallyT within the barrel having at one end gripping-jaws which protrude from the barrel and are operated by the reciprocation of the plunger; a shaft screwed through the plunger and protruding between the jaws, and a head swiveled on such protruding end of the shaft having a transverse V-shaped notchJ in its forward end or face.

7. In a tool for the purposeindicated,in combination with the exterior element or barrel, a plunger reciprocating in the barrel and having gripping-jaws protruding from the latter adapted to be closed by retraction into the barrel and spread by protrusion therefrom; a spring reacting between the barrel and the plunger to retract the jaws into the barrel; an element on the plunger having an exterior ratchet-thread; a coperating element mounted on the barrel for engaging the ratchetthread, and a spring tending to hold the same into engagement with the thread, said-thread having its abrupt shoulder facing rearward or upward, whereby thethread element is adapted to be forced forward or downward.

8. In a tool for the purpose indicated, in combination with an exterior element or barrel, a plunger extending longitudinally within the barrel and having at one end gripping-jaws which protrude from the latter; a spring reacting between the plunger and the barrel to retract the jaws; a sleeve longitudinally stopped on the plunger and rotatable thereabout, exteriorly threaded, the plunger being engaged with the barrel for preventing rotation relatively thereto, and a nut device engaged with the barrel against longitudinal displacement, but movable for engagement with and disengagement from the thread of the sleeve, and

means for releasabiy holding it engaged therewith.

9. In a tool for the purpose indicated, in combination with the exterior element or barrel, a plunger extending longitudinally within the barrel and having at one end grippingjaws protruding from the barrel; a sleeve longitudinally stopped on the plunger and rotatable thereabout, exteriorly threaded; a nut device longitudinally stopped on the barrel for engaging the sleeve; a stem or shaft extending axially through the plunger and having threaded engagement therewith, such stem A protruding between the jaws, and a head carried by the stem between the jaws back of their gripping-terminals.

l0. In a tool for the purpose indicated, in combination with the exterior element or barrel, a plunger extending longitudinally within the barrel and having at one end grippingjaws protruding from the barrel; a sleeve longitudinally stopped on the plunger and rotatable thereabout, exteriorly threaded; a nut device longitudinally stopped on the barrel for engaging the sleeve; a stern or shaft extending axially through the plunger and having threaded engagement therewith, such stem protruding between the jaws, and a head carried by the stem between the jaws back of their gripping-terminals, said head being swiveled on the stem and provided with a transverse notch for engaging the work.

1l. In a tool for the purpose indicated, in combination with the exterior element or barrel, a plunger extending longitudinally therein, having at one end gripping-jaws protruding from the barrel; a-spring reacting between the plunger and the barrel to retract the jaws; a sleeve longitudinally stopped on the barrel and rotatable thereabout, exteriorly threaded; a nut device longitudinally stopped on the barrel engaging said threaded sleeve, and movable for disengagement therefrom; a spring mounted on the barrel for holding it in engagement, and means for tensioning the spring.

l2. In a tool for the purpose indicated, in combination with an exterior element or barrel, a plunger extending longitudinally therein having at one end gripping-jaws protruding from the barrel adapted to be closed together by being retracted into the barrel; a spring reacting between the plunger and the barrel for so retracting the jaws; a ratchetthreaded sleeve rotatably mounted and longi- IIO tudinally stopped on the barrel; acorrespondthe length of its free portion for tensioning ing ratchet-formed nut element for engaging the same. the ratchet-thread of the sleeve, said ratchet- In testimony whereof I have hereunto set thread having its abrupt shoulder facing rearmy hand, in the presence of two witnesses, at

5 ward for positive engagement with the nut Chicago, Illinois, this 28th day of November, I5

against retraction rearward; a spring mount- 1904.

ed on lthe barrel having a free end pressing ADAM WILLIAM FELTMANN. on the nut for holding it in engagement with In presence of" the ratchet-threaded sleeve, and a slide inov- CHAS. S. BURTON,

IO able longitudinally along the spring to vary NORMAN L. BURTON. 

